Arched cap bottle seal



Sept. 19, 1933. w, J. HAwKlNs ARCHED CAP BOTTLE SEAL Original Filed Oct. 18, 1929 Xxx?? .il! B v @www Patented Sept. 19,1933

UNITED STATES PATENT ori-*Ica ARCHED CAP BOTTLE SEAL Wilford J. Hawkins, Claiborne, Md., assignor to The Lakewest Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 18, 1929, Serial No. 400,701

Renewed October 14, 1932 12 Claims. (Cl. 226-81) skirt. Milk bottles and the like are commonlyl recessed to provide a cap supporting ledge in the bottle mouth and an adjoining upstanding slightly inwardly inclined wall. The shoulder of an ordinary skirted cap, pushed into the mouth of the bottle, does not enter fully into the angle formed by the ledger and the wall, one reason for this being that the diameter of the shoulder must be small enough to go through the narrow part at the top of the recess, and consequently a poor and insecure seal results. Neither does the ordinary disk, the edges of which tend to curl up as it is pushed into the mouth of the bottle,enter into this angle fully. It is, therefore, the main object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive capping method and apparatus in which the periphery of a cap or disk, or both, is caused to enter fully into said angleby utilizing an arched closure disk of such construction that the disk itself when pressed down will result in outward movement, as well as downward pressure, at its periphery, to push said periphery or a cap shoulder portion between it and the recess walls into said angle.

Thus, the method employed in carrying the invention into eiect consistsin assembling on the ledge, a cap having an upwardly extending skirt and a stiff upwardly arched disk within said cap, and then exerting pressure downwardly on said cap to flatten its arch to expand its periphery to lock the skirted cap in the angle between the ledge and wall; and the apparatus employed for the above in the best constructions comprises movable means for retaining the periphery of an arched cap in the bottom of the recess, in combination with a plunger for pressing down the central portion of the cap.

With the above and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention -consists in certain methods and constructions which will be hereinafter fully described and then set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts: Figs. 1 to 3 are sectional elevations of the apparatus showing the plunger at different positions; and Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of amodied form of apparatus.

Referring now to Figs. l'to 3 of the drawing, there is shown, by way of example, an ordinary milkbottle 10 having a pouring lip 1l and within 60 yits mouth an undercut recess 12 forming a cap supporting ledge 8 and an adjoining upstanding inwardly inclined `wall 9. For purposes of illustration, the inclination of` this wall is shown somewhat exaggerated. Within the recess and on the cap supporting ledge 8 are assembled a cap 13 of single ply paper, or other suitable material, having an inwardly and upwardly extending lip protecting skirt which, when molded about the lip 11, serves to protect the same, and a close fitting stiiv arched disk or plug 14 which, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, is a multi-ply paper. This disk rests within the skirted cap at the bottom of the cup formed thereby, close to the cap supporting ledge from which it is separated only by the thickness of the skirted cap. Owing to the support and protection given the cap by the disk, the cap-may be made of cheap somewhat flexible single ply paper.

The apparatus shown for carrying out the invention includes a vvertically reciprocable plunger 15a having a rounded lower end for engaging the 'central portion of the disk 14. This plunger is integral with and reciprocated by a cylindrical member 15 having an overhanging outer sleeve 85 16. Between this sleeve and the plunger 15a is slidably mounted for vertical movement relative to the plunger 15a, an annulus 17 which is urged downwardly with respect to the plunger and towards the cap 18 by a coil spring 19 surrounding the plunger. Concentric with and surrounding the sleeve 16 is a slidable shell 2,0, the lower end of which is shaped to form a die to mold the skirt of the bottle cap around the pouring lip 11 of the bottle. l 95 The method employed in carrying out the invention, which may be best illustrated by considering the operation of the above described apparatus, though obviously the method may be carried out by other apparatus, is as follows: 100

The cap 13 and the arched diskv14 having been assembled on the ledge 8 as above described and as shown in Fig. 1, the plunger 15a is caused to descend by movement of the member 16 to exert pressure downwardly on the center of the-disk, until its arch is flattened as shown in Fig. 2.

AThis causes the periphery of the disk to expand and thereby lock the skirted cap in the angle between the ledge and wall, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. During this operation there is likelihood that the peripheral edge of the disk and the shoulder of the cap will lremain or rise above the ledge 8. To prevent this, the annulus 17 being urged beyond the plunger by the spring 19, arrives at operating position first, and thus retains the periphery of the disk and the portion of the cap under it against the ledge 8, so that when the periphery of the disk has expanded it will engage in .the angle between said ledge and the upstanding wall adjoining the ledge. This annulus is prevented from pinching the periphery of the cap, which must be freely movable in a radial direction during the flattening operation, by stop mechanism in the form of a shoulderon its lower end which prevents the annulus from descending after its bottom face reaches a point slightly more than the thickness of the cap and disk above the ledge.

After the cap has been locked in the recess as above described, the sleeve 20 is caused to descend and a die face 20a at its lower end, molds the outwardly extending portion of the cap about thel bottle lip, thereby completing the sealing of the bottle. If a longer skirt is desired completely covering the lip and part of the neck of the bottle, crimping fingers or other means conventionally used in this art for molding such skirts may be substituted for this element.

In the form shown in Fig. 4, the arched cap 14a, which is preferably made of metal, is pushed down at its central portion a suilicient distance by the plunger 15a to reverse the arch of the cap, the strained condition of the disk resulting in an outward radial pressure which eiectively locks the cap 13 in the angle between the ledge 8 and the adjoining upstanding wall 9.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of capping a bottle having within its mouth a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding inwardly inclined walll adjoining said ledge, consisting in assemblin said ledge a cap having an upwardly extending skirt and a stiff upwardly arched-disk within said cap, and then exerting pressure downwardly onl said disk to flatten its arch and expand its periphery to lock the skirted cap in the angle between said ledge and wall while retaining the periphery of the disk and the portion of the capunder it against said ledge.

2. The method of capping a bottle having within its mouth a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding inwardly inclined wall adjoining said ledge, consisting in assembling on said ledge a cap having an upwardly extending skirt and a sti upwardly arched disk within said cap, and then exerting pressure downwardly on said disk to atten its arch and expand its peripheryto lock the skirted cap in the angle between said ledge and wall, and then molding said skirt into conformity with the lip of the bottle.,

3. In a machine for inserting caps and upwardly arched disks in a bottle having a cap supporting recess within its mouth, the combination with vertically movable means for retaining the periphery of the disk in the bottom of the recess, and a plunger for pressing down the central portion of the disk to flatten the arch to lock the cap in the recess.

a. In a machine for inserting caps and upwardly arched disks in a bottle having a cap supporting recess within its mouth, the combination with vertically movable means for retaining the periphery of the disk in the bottom of the recess, a plunger for pressing down the central portion of the disk to ilatten the arch to lock the cap in the recess, and die means concentric with said retaining means for molding a cap skirt extending over the bottle lip into close conformity with said lip.

5. In a machine for inserting caps and upwardly arched disks in a bottle having a cap supporting recess Within its mouth, the combination with vertically movable means for retaining the periphery of the disk in the bottom of the recess. a plunger for pressing down the central portion of the disk to flatten the arch to lock the disk in the recess, and a spring urging saidI retaining means downwardly relative to the plunger and beyondv the same whereby on downward movement of the plunger the retaining means arrives at operating position rst.

6. In a machine for inserting caps and upwardly arched disks in a bottle having a cap supporting recess within its mouth, the combination with vertically movable means for retaining the periphery of the disk in the bottom of the recess. and a plunger for pressing down the central portion of the disk to flatten the arch to lock the disk in the recess, said retaining means including means limiting its movement toward the bottom of the recess.

7. The method of capping a bottle having. within its mouth a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding wall adjoining said ledge, consisting in applying a cap having a skirt portion and an` arched central portion to said bottle mouth, and then exerting pressure on said arched portion. to force its periphery into engagement with the upstanding wall while retaining the periphery of the arched portion against the ledge.

8. The method of capping a bottle having within its mouth a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding wall adjoining said ledge, consisting in applying a cap having a skirt portion and an arched central portion to said bottle mouth, exerting pressure on said arched portion to force its periphery into engagement with the upstanding wall While retaining the periphery of the arched portion against the ledge, and then moulding said skirt into conformity with the lip of the bottle.

9. In a machine for applying a skirted can having an arched portion centrally thereof in a bottle having a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding wall adjacent its mouth, the combination of a vertically movable element for retaining the peripheryof said arched portion in contact with said supporting ledge; and movable means to atten said arched portionv and force the periphery of said cap into engagement with said upstanding wall.

10. In a lmachine for applying askirted cap having an arched portion centrally thereof in abottle having a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding wall adjacent its mouth, the combinai tion of a vertically movable element for retaining the periphery of said arched portion in contact with said supporting ledge; movable means to flatten said arched portion and force the peri'phery of said cap into engagement with said upstanding wall; and means surrounding said retaining element for moulding the cap skirt into intimate engagement with said bottle mouth.

1l. In a machine for applying a skirted cap having an arched portion centrally thereof in a bottle having a cap supporting ledge and an upstanding wall adjacent its mouth, the combination of a vertically movable element for retaining the periphery of said arched portion in contact with said supporting ledge; a plunger to atten said arched portion and force the periphery of said cap into engagement with said upstanding wall; and spring means to control the relative movement between said element andsaid plunger.

12. In a machine for applying a. skirted cap having an arched portion centrally thereof in a bottle having' a cap supporting ledge and an upystanding wall adjacent its mouth, the combination of a vertically movable element for retainmouth.

WILFORD J. HAWKINS. 

